OUR BROKEN LIVES

Karen here….I’ve been going to a lot of luncheons recently.  I’m not sure why, just seems like it’s that time of year and it’s worked out that way.  I was standing in line at the buffet at one of those luncheons a few days ago.  I started a conversation with the woman behind me.  I commented on her beautiful necklace.  She informed me that it hadn’t always been in it’s present form.  When I inquired further, she told me the story of how in her closet one day, she was getting ready and attempting to put on the necklace, when it broke and the beads went in all directions.  She did her best to gather up all the beads she could find and took it to a friend of hers to try to repair it.  When she got it back her friend had put it back together in a much more beautiful and unique way.

I said to her “there’s a life lesson in that story”.  She looked at me rather confused.  I went on to explain that when our lives fall apart and all we see are the broken pieces…God can help us gather them up and he can put our life back together in a much more beautiful and pleasing way than it ever was before.  I know, because I’ve experienced that first hand.  I think she was a little startled that I suddenly went “deep” on her.

If you’re wondering what happened to the life you knew…..put it in God’s hands and wait and see what he does to make it even more beautiful.

What It’s all About!

Hello there, my friend!

Julie here. How are things going for you today? I hope everything is groovy. Wow, that’s a word I don’t use too often. Groovy? Where did that come from?

So, I’ve decided that since it’s been so long since I’ve actually written anything interesting, I owe you a serious update on what’s been going on in my neck of the woods. Now the question is: where do I start? Ummm… Let me think.

Okay, here I go. Life has been good lately. Mom and I have been able to speak to some church women’s groups in the last couple of weeks. It’s been an incredible experience! Mom and I have both heard Father asking us to share our stories with women, and we both feel so humbled that He actually wants to use us to touch their hearts. We do tag-team speaking, and we also use music to try and bring our message to life. I love hearing Mom share her story with these precious ladies, because she is so willing to be totally transparent. She just lays it all out there, never holding anything back. That’s something I think is seriously lacking in our churches today. We need to learn how to be real people again. Can you imagine how much our relationships with each other could improve if we would all just take off our masks? It’s so neat to see the women respond to Mom’s open, honest heart. We recently spoke at a church where they allowed us to use a small quiet room to talk with the women individually after we finished our presentation. They were also going to eat a pot luck dinner at the same time, so we honestly didn’t expect many ladies to come to the room where we were waiting. (The food smelled pretty delicious, so we assumed that taste buds and growling tummies would trump their desire to talk to us!) We went to our little room, and we were shocked at the number of women who came to visit. One by one they filed in, bringing with them their heavy hearts and unique struggles. It was so incredible to talk with them one on one, to give them encouragement, and to pray with them. We met single mothers, women who had experienced terrible tragedies, mothers who have children with special needs, and women with all kinds of other battles to fight. For an hour and a half, we talked, hugged and cried with them. When we left that night, Mom and I both agreed that this is the reason we do what we do.
“You know,” Mom said, “My life doesn’t seem all that special to me. I get up every morning and just live one moment at a time. It’s nothing that unique. It’s so humbling that God can take my life experiences and use them to reach out to other women and encourage them.”
In other related news, Mom has begun taking a course on becoming a Christian counselor. It’s something she has always been interested in. We’re hoping the education will help her as she meets more women in need of love and support.

Well, my dear friend, I have tons of other writing topics bouncing around in my head. But, I’m going to save them for future posts. Right now my lovely Mother is finishing her dinner preparations. Her fabulous sweet potato fries are calling my name! I promise to be back soon with more updates. Have a spectacular day!

Where Have you Been??

Hello my dear bloggy friends,Well, I’m ashamed to admit that my last blog was written on July 4! Will you please forgive me for my lack of writing? I have lots of different excuses for my bad blog behavior, but I’m sure you don’t really want to hear them. Do you? Okay, I’ll just tell you one. I am a procrastinating perfectionist. Yep, that’s me. Practically every day over the last few months, I’ve been thinking, “Gee, I really need to update my blog.” But then I think, “Gee, I really don’t feel like doing that today.” And the problem is, the longer I put it off, the worse it gets. “Goodness! It’s been 3 months since my last post,so whatever I put up there next has to be really fabulous.” Thus the pressure builds to an unbearable level, and I begin to feel like I can never measure up to the high standard of literary genius that you’ve come to expect from this little blog of mine. But, recently, I stepped back and realized that the only one putting this pressure on me was, well… me. So, I am hereby releasing all of my guilt. This seems to be a theme that Papa and I have been exploring in my life lately. I am learning to let go of the need to perform well in order to be acceptable. And, when I let go of that need, He then replaces it with His incredible love and freedom. Ah, yes, sweet freedom. I am gradually learning that no matter what I do, and no matter what I don’t do, His love is secure and unchanging. I don’t have to do anything to earn it or keep it. I am loved. And so are you, my darling friend. When you let that sink in, everything changes. So there you have it—the reason I haven’t written lately. Now that the ice is broken, I’m hoping that I’ll be returning much more often to provide you with more updates and amusement. I really do have a lot to write about! I pray your day is filled with joy, and that all is right with your world. I’m so glad I’m back! I’ve missed you! —

Ode to Air Conditioning

This is Julie here….First, I’d like to say Happy 4th of July to everyone!! Please be
careful with all of those fireworks! Those sparklers can be
dangerous!

Well, can you believe it? We’re already in the middle of summer! The
hottest months of the year are upon us here in the US. Where I live,
we’ve been setting records with our unusually high temperatures. Not
too long ago, they declared a “heat emergency” because we had so many
days in a row with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees! It’s on
these sweltering, humid days that I say extra “thank you” prayers for
our air conditioner. Ah, yes, that amazing, incredible, brilliant
invention that makes life so wonderful! I don’t know how I could ever
live without it.
Hey, that’s a good segue into the story I’m about to tell you!
So, last night I was just playing around on my computer, doing nothing
special, when I started to feel a little on the warm side. At first I
thought it was just my imagination. So I turned on the ceiling fan
and didn’t think much more about it. A few minutes later, I noticed
that the room wasn’t getting any cooler, so I started to get nervous.
I took a walk around the house to see how the other areas felt, and I
discovered that all of the upstairs rooms were quite warm. The AC was
on, but it was just blowing hot air. I ran downstairs to alert my
dear mother of the problem, and she came up to investigate. She told
me that the temperature upstairs was registering at 84 degrees! She
went ahead and turned the air off completely, and went back downstairs
to call the AC repair guys. Of course, no one would be coming out to
fix it until at least Monday. Such wonderful timing!
“Why do things like this always happen at the beginning of holiday
weekends?” I wondered aloud.
I began to think of all the ways this was going to effect me over the
weekend. I would have to sleep on the couch downstairs for the 3
nights until someone would come to fix it. I’d have to rearrange my
life so that I would spend as little time as possible in my upstairs
bedroom. Oh my, how totally inconvenient! Ggggggrrrrrrr!
It didn’t take long for my normal happy self to be replaced by a
pitiful, sad, cranky self. I imagined myself telling this tragic
story to audiences world wide, and I wondered who would play me in the
movie.
A few minutes into my “poor me” parade, my typical happy self regained
consciousness, and she tapped my disgruntled, pitiful self on the
shoulder.
“Ahem, excuse me,” she said meekly, “But, um, aren’t you the girl who
tells everyone how to have a positive attitude, even when they’re in
tough circumstances?”
“Uhhhh…” Pitiful self said, her face turning a lovely shade of red,
“Well, umm… That was before our AC quit working.”
Happy Self grinned sweetly. (That little goody-two-shoes.) “And don’t
you tell everyone to focus on the positive things instead of the
negative? You can be grateful that at least the downstairs AC is
working. And at least you have a house to live in.”
Pitiful Self threw up her hands in surrender. “Okay, you’re right.”
My inner struggle finally over with, I lay down on the floor as a sign
of surrender.
“Okay, Papa,” I prayed, “Here I am. I can’t change the fact that the
AC is broken, but you can. So, of course my first request would be
that you please fix it for me. But, if you don’t want to, that’s
okay. I know that I’ll be fine either way. Please grant me the grace
to deal with whatever happens, moment by moment. It’s only by your
grace that I am able to do anything.”
By this time, Pitiful Self had packed her duffel bag and hit the road,
and Happy Self was back at the steering wheel. A gentle peace floated
through me, and I felt ready to tackle anything.
“Sleeping on the sofa won’t be so bad,” I thought, “I’ll just pretend
I’m camping out. Maybe we can toast marshmallows in the fireplace.”
I went back to my computer and worked a little harder to ignore the
sweat that was forming on my forehead. About a half an hour later, I
had a thought.
“Hey Mom,” I called, “Can we turn the air back on up here? Just to
see if it might work?”
A minute later, she turned it on, and…
Yep! It was working! I’m not even kidding! It started blowing
glorious cold air all over the place! You should have heard the
hootin’ and hollerin’ that came out of my mouth! Woohoo! I suddenly
knew how the Oceanic 6 must have felt when they finally got off that
silly island on the show “Lost”! (Okay, so maybe not quite the same
thing.) What a relief!
It’s been almost 24 hours since then, and everything is still working
great. So, what’s the moral of my story?
No seriously, I’m asking you. Did you learn anything?

Hey! Guess what! I’m on Twitter now! Check it out at
www.twitter.com/littleandblind

Lesson from Nature

I had one of those “life lessons” last week while out taking a walk around the block.  Several years ago I had hired a rather interesting character to do some landscaping.  He came recommended.  He had a drinking problem and showed up for work when he needed more money for booze.  One of the things he did was plant a tree in my yard that looked like a bare naked, but very tall, stick.  Over the past few years I have watched that stick, season after season, refuse to show any sign of life.  I even had it moved to a more prominent spot in my front yard, hoping it would feel compelled to produce.  Nothing!  I’ve pondered several times on whether I should just have it dug up and removed.  But, something kept me from giving up on the stick.  I had really just sort of forgotten about it and decided to enjoy the stick for who it really was, with no expectation of any more.  Well….while walking last week, I stopped abruptly in my tracks!  I looked up and realized the stick was a beautiful, fully bloomed and flowering tree.  When this happened, I do not know.  I had stopped worrying, fretting and pondering on the stick.  You know where I’m going with this…don’t you!  There’s a spiritual lesson in there…..sometimes we can worry ourselves sick over something we should just give to God.  He makes everything beautiful in His time.  I have no idea why the stick couldn’t produce sooner.  Maybe just like our lives, there were things going on that hindered it’s growth.  We should never give up on ourselves or our dreams.  We just need to move forward and trust God.    Maybe one day we’ll look up and see the blooms!  Blessings to all my friends on the path from stick to fully blooming tree!    Karen

Q & A with Karen & Julie

Okay, everyone!  It’s time to get this bloggy thing started!  The first thing we want to do is say a big thank you to our friend Darcy for helping us put this new site together!  We’re so excited about it!  

Now, for our first real blog post!  We’ve decided that it would be fun to do a little Q&A session to help you get to know us better.  If you want to see our official bios, you can read them by clicking on the links called “About Karen” and “About Julie”.  If you have any other questions that you’d like us to answer, feel free to leave us a comment. 

Alrighty then.  Let the interview begin!

 

1. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Karen: Definitely Europe.  I’ve never been anywhere in Europe and would love to visit and explore.

 

Julie: I’d love to go anywhere in Europe.  I’d also like to visit Australia.  I love hearing people talk with Australian accents! 

 

2. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Karen: Anything chocolate….Rocky Road, I love chocolate and nuts.

 

Julie: I love Peanut Butter Cup Perfection from Cold Stone!  Bring it on!

 

3. Favorite movie of all time?

Karen: “While You Were Sleeping”

 

Julie: Anne of Green Gables

 

4. What is the most adventurous thing you have ever done in your life?

Karen: Going on a hot air balloon ride over San Diego on my honeymoon.

 

Julie: Riding the big water ride at Silver Dollar City was pretty adventurous for me! 

 

5. Would you rather be too hot or too cold?

Karen: Neither…I find them both uncomfortable….I’m a fair weather, just right girl.

 

Julie: too cold!  Sweating is so not my thing! 

 

6. Have you ever forgotten the lyrics to a song while you were singing on stage?  If so, tell us about it!

Karen: When I was younger, I forgot the words while on stage singing solo.  I made up an entire verse, and the really funny thing was that no one noticed!

 

Julie: Yes!  Last summer at the “Meet the Authors Night”, Mom and I were singing the first verse of “You Raise Me Up,” and a baby in the audience started crying.  For some reason, that distracted me and my mind went totally blank!  I hummed for a minute, and then whispered to mom, “I forgot my words!” she helped me get back on track, and we made it through the rest of the song.  Phew! 

 

7. When the hurricane hit us last year, we were without power for 2 weeks.  What modern convenience did you miss the most?

Karen:  Definitely the air conditioning.  I can live without cooking, curling my hair, etc., but not the air in September in Houston!

 

Julie: Do I have to pick just one?  I really missed the air conditioning.  That first night without power, we all slept with bags of frozen veggies so we could stay semi cool!  Do you remember that, Mom?  I also missed my computer.

 

8. What is one thing that you absolutely must do before you die? 

Karen:  I’ve been privileged to do so many of the things on my list, I guess I’d have to say explore Europe.

 

Julie: Golly, I don’t know.  I guess I’d have to say that I want to have at least one book published.

 

9. What is your favorite childhood memory?

Karen:  Being a missionary kid, we didn’t see relatives.  Our immediate family was very important.  I have fond memories of going on vacation to a resort in Taiwan and getting to swim and play with my 3 brothers, Steve & Tim & Dan.  The other 3 brothers were older and gone from home.

 

Julie: I have tons of happy memories, but my favorites always involve my family and my friend Tiffany and her family.  We loved riding our bikes to our local TCBY for frozen yogurt, and that was always really fun.  I rode in a little bike seat on the back of Mom’s bike until I was about ten years old.

 

10. If you could change anything about your life right now, what would you change?

Karen:  My organization or should I say “disorganization”.  I have too many papers everywhere!  I can’t seem to tame the paper monster.

 

Julie: I want a puppy.  Not just any ordinary puppy, mind you.  I want one that is perfectly house trained, that is small enough that I can carry it around, and is calm and easy to take care of.  Oh, and I want it to be fuzzy and adorable.  If you or someone you know has information on where I can find this perfect puppy, please contact me immediately.  Ha ha!

 

Thanks for stopping by!  We hope you have a wonderful day!

Our First Blog

Welcome to our new website and our blog.  We are so excited to be able to share our lives with you.  From time to time, we will each be blogging and hope you will enjoy reading our thoughts.  Remember…it’s a 2 way communication, so feel free to leave us your comments and feedback.  Talk to you soon…… Karen & Julie